


The Big Shade Tree

by KatlynMae



Category: South Park
Genre: Angst, Best Friends, Character Death, Childhood Friends, Fluff, Growing Up, Growing Up Together, M/M, Overworking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 07:58:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14397705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatlynMae/pseuds/KatlynMae
Summary: Craig and Kenny were childhood best friends. There's this big Oak tree at the edge of the mountains where they'd like to play. Time flies and still, it's the tree that ties them together.





	The Big Shade Tree

Summer, the breeze of it blew in waves through the two boys' hair as they stood under a big Oak tree. The shade of the tree towered and reached over their bodies like a roof, protecting them from the heat.

"I'm not gonna let you see it, that's disgusting." The black haired boy said, holding the side of his jaw. He had turned six not that long ago and lost his first tooth. Not believing in the tooth fairy, he'd been struggling to find a place to put it besides the trash can.

"Oh come on! I wanna see it. I bet it looks cool!" His blonde friend muffled under his scarf. He reached over to try and pry the other boy's mouth open, putting his cold fingers on his face. "Open up, Craig."

Craig struggled under his friend's grabbing but finally writhed free. "Stop it, Kenny. Just help me find a place to put this thing." He pulled out a small plastic bag with his fallen-out tooth in it.

"Oh, I know. Why don't you bury it under this tree? My brother said if you bury something under a big tree, you can make a wish." Kenny sparked. He pointed at the base of the roots where a patch of naked dirt can be seen.

"Really?" Craig asked hesitantly. Kenny gave him a small nod and he sighed. "Okay. If you say so."

He bended over and began brushing the dirt away with his small hands. He found a spot just deep enough for him to put his tooth and he let it slide out of the bag and fall onto the dirt. After finishing burying it, he stood back up.

"What now?" He turned to ask his friend.

"You gotta make a wish!" Kenny explained enthusiastically. He swung his arms behind his head. "If I were you, I would wish for a trillion-no, a million dollars!"

Craig laughed softly, but turned his attention back to that little patch of dirt.

"I wish…" Craig wished. "I wish…"

He closed his eyes, crossing his fingers in front of his chest. There was a moment of silence when there was just the breezing wind and the faraway sound of the neighborhood.

"What? What do you wish for?" Kenny asked impatiently, practically jumping on his feet.

He turned, opening his eyes and smiling at his friend. "I can't tell you or it won't come true." 

Kenny pouted. "You're no fun."

They continued standing there for a while as the big shade tree embrace them deeper into its core. The warm summer air circled them nicely and gently and the day fade away.

//

Years fly past and they believe they aren't children anymore. By the school yard they raced each other's wounded bodies to the edge of the forest where their secret base hid. Well, maybe it was more of a chase.

"Get back here, McCormick!" Craig yelled, his voice lost in the speed of the wind left behind by the boy in front of him. 

Kenny laughed, his hood flowing behind him. "You gotta catch me first, fucker." 

He ran and he ran, so fast like his legs were about to fall off when something finally stopped him. His face hit flat hard on the trunk of a big tree, slamming his nose to the side. In pain, he fell on his knees onto the patch of grass and fallen leaves.

"You idiot." Craig saw and hurried his way over. He touched Kenny's broken nose with his finger; dark red blood began flowing from his fingertip to the back of his hand and stained the sleeve of his blue jacket. "Watch where you're going."

Kenny smiled, revealing his crooked teeth. He reached up to wrapped his fingers around Craig's hand, pulling it down. The blood dropped down onto his orange parka and had began to stain but he didn't seem to care.

He shook his head slightly and pinched his nose in attempt to stop the blood flow. "Why did you get in a fight with Cartman?" He asked, looking down at Craig.

"That bastard was talking shit about Tweek." Craig said, kneeling in front of his friend. "He was asking to be beaten up."

"Oh…Tweek. Right, I didn't know." Kenny said, lowering his eyelids. 

"Is that why you didn't take my side?" Craig looked away from him. The sunset glowing in his blue eyes.

"What?" 

"Nevermind, let's just get you to a hospital." Craig discontinued his own conversation and stood up. He reach out his hand for Kenny, offering to help him stand up.

Kenny grabbed onto Craig's hand, pulling himself up. "Nah, I can treat this at home. Besides, the hospital's too expensive." He added, picking a crumbled up piece of tissue paper out of his pocket and applying it to his nose. 

"Alright, whatever you say." Craig said, ready to leave. "Wanna go home, then?"

Kenny still had one hand on the tree, he touched the small dent he made when he got his head on it and smiled. "Yeah, but we should hang out back here sometimes."

The autumn sunset closed the scene as the two boys walked off over the hitch of the hill, disappearing as glowing silhouettes. And everything seemed to be alright, everything seemed to be going as he wished.

//

And eighteen was an exciting year. Talking about moving out and moving on; falling in and falling out of love. And that was how it all felt like to Craig as he held his boyfriend's hand tightly through the Christmas streets.

By the time the snow came crashing down to South Park, people knew it was time to put up the lights. And now, on Christmas Eve, it was a wonderland. With warm colors seeping from shop windows, decoration upon every wall, and carolers at every corner, people could agree it was perfection.

Craig squeezed Tweek's hand tightly through his glove, careful not to lose each other in the big crowd. They were just leaving from going to see the big Christmas tree at the mall, bumping shoulders upon shoulders as they made their way through the gaggle of people.

Out on the streets, Tweek rubbed his empty hands together, huffing puffs of smoke to try and warm them up. Craig quickly took off his gloves and gave them to him. "Here, honey. These will keep you warm."

"Thank you." Tweek said, putting on the gloves. He looked softly into his boyfriend's eyes and he felt nothing but warmth as his blue eyes looked lovingly right back. 

In the distance, a construction site boomed as some large equipment seemed to have dropped from quite a height. Workers shouted at each other in concern of their safety.

"Working on Christmas Eve? Those workers' schedules are tight." Tweek said. 

"Yeah…" Craig's voice drifted. He watched the construction reaching up into the sky bar by bar; it must've been a dangerous job working on that site. But quickly, he shook his head, turning his attention back to Tweek. "Where do you want to go now? There's still a little bit of time."

Tweek tapped his finger on his chin, "Hmm…how about the hills where the the forest starts? We can watch the stars there. But it might be a bit cold."

Craig smiled gently, "Don't worry, honey. I'll keep you warm." He saw Tweek's already red cheeks lit up in a bright pink colour as he swung his hand into his, intertwining their fingers. 

At the construction site, Kenny stood unsteadily on the platform, holding on to a supporting pole. He'd accidentally dropped his equipment, and as it fell it took many parts of the unstable building with it.

"Hey, McCormick, watch it! You're gonna kill someone with that." The head of the team shouted from below. 

"Yes, sorry, sir!" He hastily answered.

It wasn't fair. It was because he just caught his eyes on Craig and Tweek on the street together. 

Since when? They used to be such good friends but now they barely talk to each other. Everytime they pass in the hallway, he'd open his mouth to say something but Craig'd be already gone. 

And though he still remembered the good memories, they seemed to be blown away by the cool winter gust. And now there's nothing left but dust.

He watched as two fragile bodies moved on their way towards the mountain hills; towards his and Craig's secret base; towards the big shade tree. And soon they disappeared into the shadow of the town.

He wiped his face with the back of his dirt-covered hand. 

"I wish…"

//

Spring was meant for rebirth. And the flowers by his hospital bed had many of those as his mother took in another batch of fresh bouquet. 

She took the flowers out from the beautiful packaging and placed them into the vase the hospital had provided. Sitting down on the bed, she softly touch the pink petals of the blooming lillies. A drop of tear rolled down from her cheek when she thought of how shortly lived they would be.

It's been a week since her son fell. Overworked, the doctor said. If only they hadn't asked of their son so much maybe it wouldn't have been this way.

"Mrs. McCormick, I'm afraid it's bad news." The doctor said solemnly as he walked into the room. "Your son is awake but…he only has a while."

She buried her face into her her hands, small sobs echoing in the room.

A nurse pushed Kenny into the room on a wheelchair. His usual tanned face looked paler under this light. "Hi, mom." He said weakly. "Could you-"

His mother ran over to tackle her son in a tight embrace, so tight the nurse almost stopped her. She kneeled in front of his wheelchair and cried down his shoulder. "Sweety, it's okay. You're okay."

Kenny slid his arms around his mother's back, "I know, mom. I'm okay." Breaking from the hug, he looked up to his mother and asked. "Mom, can you find Craig for me? I need to talk to him."

"Oh honey, of course. I'll see if he's here." She touched his cheek and turn to walk out of the hospital room but the nurse stopped her, signalling her that she'll go find him.

In the waiting room, Craig sat uncomfortably. He didn't know how to feel for sick people. Sad? Compassion? Empathy? All these emotions roaming up inside him just made him feel nothing at all. 

He had skipped two days of college flying back from Sacramento but nothing mattered when he heard the news in the tone of Stan's voice.

"Kenny's fucking dying. If you took sometime to give two shits about your friends maybe you would've noticed."

Fuck Stan. What does he know?

He crossed his fingers and dropped his head, feeling a heavy pressure in this atmosphere. Maybe he hadn't been that good of a friend but he couldn't deny he still cared. Even during the time in high school when they drifted apart; he felt it was just a misunderstanding. He never meant for things to be this way.

Pressing his fingers together harder and harder, he felt his worries implode. "I wish…"

"Craig Tucker? Craig Tucker." A female voice called out for him. His head shot up as he walked in her direction towards the hospital room.

As he entered the room, a familiar but unfamiliar face came into view. That old blonde smiling child now had pale skin, thin hair and limbs so weak they look like they could snap off at any moment.

"Could you guys leave us? I want to talk to Craig alone for a minute." Kenny smiled at the other three people in the room. They nodded and left.

The door closed behind Craig and he found that he had nothing to say. He leaned against the white wall and tried to look anywhere but Kenny's faded blue eyes.

He opened his mouth, breathing out the first word, "Ken--"

"Do you remember, Craig? That big shade tree we used to play at when we were younger. The one on the hills?" Kenny interrupted him, his eyes glued to the view outside the window.

"Um, yeah?" Craig answered questioningly. He took a step towards his friend.

"Could you take me there?" Kenny asked, gripping onto the handles of the wheelchairs tightly as if he knew it was a stupid question to ask.

"What? No, you need to rest." Craig walked to him, wrapping Kenny properly with the blanket the nurse had given him.

"Please, just one last time. I know I don't have long." Kenny coughed. He brushed off the blanket and tried to stand up but his legs failed him, falling to his knees.

Craig practically ran over to his side to help him get back into his wheelchair. "Kenny, no. You need to stay here and rest."

Just before Kenny was sat back into his chair, he pushed himself back up again. "Can't you tell, Craig? There's no point. I don't need rest because I won't be able to use the energy when I'm dead." He bursted.

Craig winced at the words, he was taken aback by his attitude but at last he sighed. "Okay, fine. We'll go to the tree but then you'll come back and stay here?"

Kenny nodded, smiling at his old friend. 

After breaking out Kenny out of all the tubes, strings and IV, the rest of the piggy-back ride should be a breeze. They took the strangest of the alleyways to avoid being seen until they finally arrived at the mountain side.

"Let me down, I want to walk." Kenny patted on Craig's back, signalling him to let him down from his back. 

"No, you'll fall." Craig insisted, holding him tight to his torso.

"Then help me." Kenny used his strength to push himself off of Craig's back, stumbling a bit as his bare feet landed in the slightly damp grass. 

Craig quickly spinned on his heels, hoisting Kenny up by holding his forearms. "Okay, okay. Fine. Here, take my arm."

Kenny grinned as he held himself up by Craig's shoulders. He took careful steps up the hill, taking time to make sure he doesn't step on any of those little white flowers that bloom at the mountainside at the break of ice.

It was a while before they could reach the top where the magnificent tree stood. And by the time they got there, they were both sweating and panting.

Kenny lay down at the base of the big shade tree, stretching out his arms up into the air. It almost feels like he was as tall as the tree and he could touch the sky. The dry air kissed his skin and he felt wetness at the edge of his eyes.

And Craig just watched, sitting next to his friend. His fingers played with the grass between his knees as he looked faraway into the distance. Suddenly, he felt like they were children again; like he could do anything he wanted; like everything was okay.

He turned to look at Kenny, who was crying now but he knew he felt the same way. He reached over to put his cold hand in his own, and they just stayed silently, enjoying the breeze.

"It just not fair, you know?" Kenny shattered the silence, Craig looked at him and just listened. "I could've sworn my life was gonna be different. I was gonna make big money, buy a car and get out of this town. With Karen, my mom and…you. It was finally gonna be my time." 

Craig squeezed his fingers tight around Kenny's. "It's going to be your time."

He looked up, his blue eyes still glazed in tears. But he smiled, closing his eyes once more. This time he could feel it, all the emotions from before running in his blood, in his veins. He could almost feel the bump where Craig had buried his first tooth. 

"When I'm gone," Kenny choked out the words. "Please don't visit my grave. I don't want you to remember me as just another tomb stone in a sea of others. Just come here, this is where I'll always be." He smiled wide, tears rolling off his cheeks. "Under this big shade tree."

Craig scooted down to when his friend was and hugged him tightly, not caring how uncomfortable the position was. He ran his fingers through his hair as he grazed over his neck, his other arm wrapped around his shoulder. But Kenny did not return the embrace.

Quietly, Craig's tears dropped onto Kenny's cold face and slid down his smooth skin into his blonde hair. 

"And I wish we will always be here together, under this big shade tree."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading this far!


End file.
